Category Archives: Human behavior

You need to ask a favor. Do you do it by email or face-to-face? The research on persuasive communcation by Guadagno & Cialdini (2002) has an answer to it. Let’s look at what has been discovered. 1. Channel of communication and gender Would it make a difference if the person you’re trying to persuade was…

If you’re a marketer, then there is one book you simply must read: Influence by Robert Cialdini. It’s probably the most comprehensive book on the art of influence translated into the language of marketing. Some find it a bit too simplified (and I am one of them), but despite all, it is probably the first book…

Why Romeo and Juliet fell so passionately in love with each other? The answer is: reverse psychology. Let me explain. If you remember the story, the two lovers met and took a liking in each other. If the story ended here, they might have gotten together, be happy for a few months and then discover…

Does using humor in advertising and marketing help you sell more? Or should it be avoided? John Caples, author of one of the most famous advertising headlines – ”They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano but When I Started to Play!” said: Avoid humor. You can entertain a million people and not sell…

A shocking real life case that revealed a secret how to change beliefs of others. Changing one’s beliefs is not easy. It requires a deep understanding of a person’s psyche, their current belief system, values and behaviours. And yet Vietnamese government achieved what to many seemed impossible. During the war in Vietnam something incredible took…

Regardless of what you define as successful (be it optimistic, happy, satisfied), I believe there are certain beliefs and practices that successful people live by. This is my personal take on it. The 5 beliefs I’m sharing with you have worked for me, kept me motivated, inspired and effective. These are the beliefs that helped…

Since its release in 2006, Influence by R. Cialdini has sold in over 2 mln copies. It’s a classic for any marketer wanting to learn more about persuasion and how to use it in your business. The main concept of the book is our automatic responses. Cialdini points that there are certain stimuli that cause in…

You’ve worked so hard to create your product. Put so much heart and time. And you know your product is good. You know it will help many people. But… people are not buying it. And you end up wondering why. Here is 7 tips on how to overcome sales objections. Unless we’re talking about chewing…

Setting up additional price points for your offer is one of the most effective pricing strategy in marketing. Price is never an absolute value. It is always perceived. What is $20, for example? To those who earn a lot – it’s nothing. To the unemployed one – a lot. For a car? Nothing! For a…

Giving a reason for your request can increase compliance from 60% to 90%. In the classic study covered in Harvard Magazine on how people respond to language, psychologists Langer, Chanowitz, and Blank found that adding a reason to your request can almost double your success rate. In the late 1970s, the researchers organised an experiment to…